Mafioso: Lessons From The 1919 World Series

Mafioso: Lessons From The 1919 World Series

In The Godfather II, Hyman Roth says he fell in love with baseball when Arnold Rothstein fixed the 1919 World Series. I wasn’t around for the fix, but you better believe a score like that would have turned me on quicker than Jackson’s hot October or Larson’s perfect game. When White Sox first basemen Chick Gandil concocted the scheme with bookmaker Joesph Sullivan, they had no idea they would be changing America’s pastime forever — and by favorite pastime I mean gambling. Securing relationships with key players, Arnold Rothstein, famed Jewish mobster, bankrolled the operation to throw the 1919 World Series. Sports fixing was not a new business practice in the mob. Wise guys could always get a guy to flop on a Max Baer left hook. However, it was easy to convince one beat up boxer to take the fall for a hefty payday. Who would have thought there was a market for fixing games in a sport that involved nine guys on the field? In the end, the Sox lost, the gamblers cashed out and the scheme provided all future fixes a long list of lessons to learn from. Here are a few.

Capitalize on the unsatisfied

It wasn’t solely greed that got Chick Gandil to seek out the fix, and it wasn’t just smooth talking that got his teammates to join in. It was a general dissatisfaction with upper management. Charles Comiskey, owner of the White Sox, was cheap with his dollar. Besides paying the crew a salary that wouldn’t even qualify as minimum wage by Bangladeshi standards, he made the team pay for their own laundry and other expenses. Seeking out this dissatisfaction is essential for any fix, overthrow or undertaking. I never heard of a mutiny that involved a likable captain — and any boss knows to keep his crew happy. So, whether you’re looking to fix the local basketball game or trying to form a mass exodus in the office, just remember the importance of an unsatisfied crew: They will follow you anywhere.

Find your influencers (it starts with one)

Everyone knows Arnold Rothstein provided the dough, but he wasn’t out on the playing field recruiting for the scheme. That was Chick Gandil’s job. With his connection to crime and gambling, scheming was in his blood — but to his teammates he was a reliable first basemen. Convincing the key players to throw the game could only have been done by a player himself, and the monetary backers knew this. In any act of coercion, it’s important to send the right people to do the heavy lifting. You don’t have to convince everyone to make a move, you just have to convince the right one. Then they will all fall in order.

Entice the crew

The team didn’t get all the green before the first pitch and they didn’t get it all when the fat lady sang. Rothstein and his posse were smart enough to whet the palate of the players and keep them thirsty for more. It is common sense: Any cafone with a brain knows to give them enough to stay, but not enough to run. By distributing 10k every now and then, the players saw a physical incentive to comply — and cold hard cash means a lot more than a promise. I like this method in any form of business. I give my plumber a few bones before he fixes the pisser. It lets people know you’re serious about the scheme and it also reminds them just how good green paper feels. Needless to say, my toilet works perfectly — and the Sox lost in eight.

Name your price. How everyone can be bought in Mafioso's lessons from the 1919 World Series and a reader's Q&A after the jump...